xp_logs | Fly Me To The Moon (Reply)

Nathan invites Alison to meet him outside, well past midnight, to see what he showed to Haroun the previous night. They have a moment. Then they go flying.

It was pretty damned cold out here, Nathan thought, zipping his jacket up all the way. Of course, it was also past midnight, and he was down at the very far end of the lake, out in the wind, so maybe he ought to have expected it. Ah, well, I'll be warmer soon... He grinned a bit sheepishly as he sensed, then turned and saw Alison picking her way through the woods towards him.

"You made it to our secret rendezvous. Score."

An amused grin greeted that comment, Alison looking over her shoulder to make sure that the very very helpful Haroun hadn't given away exactly how helpful he'd been. Visually at least. "Oh yes," she answered, deadpan. "Couldn't have missed this spot for the world!" And well, now she was starting to get curious (well, moreso if possible) what with the look Nathan was currently sporting. "What's going on?" she asked, in a cheerful 'don't make me ask too often or something will go boom' way.

"Well," he said, looking out at the lake and biting his lower lip, "I have something to show you. I'm not sure how much to tell you, before I show you... you know, the whole show-not-tell thing? But I don't want you falling over on me, either, and you might. This could be... a little overwhelming."

A raised eyebrow greeted that statement, and Alison took a moment to think that over, any silly remark stalled by Nathan's obvious discomfiture. "Erm. Well. If I fall over, I'll try to fall over back on my butt instead of on you?" she finally hazarded - the silly was safest after all.

Nathan bit his lip, looking away. "I'm going to come across as the biggest hypocrite in the world," he said, concentrating on the patterns in his mind, just like he had when he'd shown this to Haroun. Eventually he'd get the hang of doing this on a moment's notice, he was sure. Right now, it was the same slow progression to get the pieces to fit, and he stared down at his hands as the glow started slowly around them, spreading up his arms.

"You..." Alison stared, raising one hand slowly to point at him as feathers flickered into life slowly, soon wreathing his entire body in flames. "You!" Still staring, wide-eyed, Alison took one step back. And found herself falling back, tripping over a root - her eyes never left him and though she landed awkwardly, she was still pointing at him once she hit the ground, mouth moving indignantly before she sharply and suddenly looked down.

Nathan gave her an awkward look, feeling both rather uncertain and rather foolish, standing there surrounded by the firebird-shaped exoskeleton. He didn't want to let it go just yet, though. "Ummm... me?" he asked worriedly, the wings of the exoskeleton folding back so that he could take a step closer to her without knocking her over.

He realized, at that point, that she was laughing. "Well, okay then," he said, feeling definitely foolish as a hesitant smile tugged at his own lips.

The laughter was audible by now, Alison's eyes overly bright as she looked up at him once more, finally starting to rise to her feet again while brushing snow from her clothing. "Oh, Nathan." She shook her head at him, smiling, one hand pressed to her lips for a moment before she let it fall down. "She'd be delighted with this. She'd laugh like a little girl at the sight of you now, you know that don't you?"

Nathan's eyes stung, and he raised a hand to rub at them - or started to, because the claw of the exoskeleton came with it and he froze, not wanting to knock Alison over. "This is going to take some getting used to," he murmured, then focused on her. "It just... finally struck me that the memory was still there. Maybe. Of how to do this. And this thing, for all that it's really blatantly obvious, was pretty useful, once upon a time." His eyes blurred, but he smiled again. "And she would have liked it."

"She would have loved this." No less because it showed the progress Nathan had made with his abilities, since his arrival, she thought. And curiously, unable to resist it, she reached forward to lightly poke at the claw, fingerstips covered in a sheen of protective light.

"It tickles," Nathan said wonderingly. "I don't think you could get through it very easily, though. Maybe with a laser." He blinked and then smiled at her. "That wasn't an invitation."

"Well, no. The whole fun in frying someone's butt is when they don't expect it," Alison said, lips quirking slightly. There was good in this, despite the sorrow, and she smiled back, nodding. "So... we get to call you the great big turkey of ill-omen now?" she asked lightly, with the most innocent expression she could manage.

He quite deliberately stuck his tongue out at her. "I'll have to teach this to Jean," he said. "She's the one with the appropriate codename. And I think Askani would have liked that, too." He eyed Alison for a long moment, the smile turning almost contemplative.

Then he reached out a hand - or more correctly, a large flaming claw. "Want to come flying with me?"